The present invention relates to side view mirrors for vehicles and, more particularly, to an additional mirror tilted at an angle with respect to a conventional side view mirror to allow a driver to properly view traffic conditions at the rear of his vehicle.
The prior art has provided composite mirror assemblies for affecting the field of view of a motor vehicle for various purposes.
Hence, the prior art depicts various systems and arrangements of composite mirror assemblies. U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,285 entitled VEHICLE REAR VIEW MIRROR WITH CONVEX PORTION issued on Aug. 22, 1967 to V. Travis employs a convex mirror for rear viewing. Other patents as U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,295 entitled MEMORY MIRROR show the use of two or more mirrors which can be rotated to enable different drivers of the same vehicle to avoid adjusting the mirror each time the vehicle is used.
Different configurations are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,659,929, 3,592,532, 3,797,920 and other patents as well.
It would suffice to say that while various configurations of mirror assemblies are depicted in the prior art, as noted above, the problems and apparatus employed in this invention have not been ascertained, nor do such prior art devices lend themselves to the solution of the problems and the apparatus described herein.
Generally, the prior art techniques as those which employ curved mirror surfaces distort the field of view, while other devices are extremely complicated and require frequent adjustment and maintenance. Still other devices do not contemplate or solve the problem depicted herein together with the apparatus necessary.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved side view mirror apparatus for a vehicle, which apparatus is simple and inexpensive to implement, while serving to enhance the viewing capability of a driver of the vehicle, thus maintaining a greater degree of safety.